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Impact of plasma oxidation on structural features of human epidermal growth factor
Author(s) -
Yusupov Maksudbek,
Lackmann JanWilm,
Razzokov Jamoliddin,
Kumar Surendra,
Stapelmann Katharina,
Bogaerts Annemie
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
plasma processes and polymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1612-8869
pISSN - 1612-8850
DOI - 10.1002/ppap.201800022
Subject(s) - disulfide bond , biophysics , epidermal growth factor receptor , epidermal growth factor , chemistry , breakage , receptor , materials science , biochemistry , biology , composite material
We perform computer simulations supported by experiments to investigate the oxidation of an important signaling protein, that is, human epidermal growth factor (hEGF), caused by cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) treatment. Specifically, we study the conformational changes of hEGF with different degrees of oxidation, to mimic short and long CAP treatment times. Our results indicate that the oxidized structures become more flexible, due to their conformational changes and breakage of the disulfide bonds, especially at higher oxidation degrees. MM/GBSA calculations reveal that an increasing oxidation level leads to a lower binding free energy of hEGF with its receptor. These results help to understand the fundamentals of the use of CAP for wound healing versus cancer treatment at short and longer treatment times.